...Ratings Not Capped by Sovereign Risk: Arab Bank Plc's (Arab Bank) ratings reflect its geographic diversification, solid capital ratios, conservative overall risk appetite, stable funding profile, the structure of its network and affiliates, and a large stock of liquid assets (mainly in Europe) that could be used to repay creditors. These help mitigate risks to its credit profile associated with its domicile. Arab Bank's Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) are therefore linked to but not capped by Fitch Ratings' view of Jordanian sovereign risk and are above those of Jordanian peers. Challenging Operating Environment: The operating environment in Jordan remains challenging and is unlikely to improve materially in the near term. Risks have also increased in other markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where Arab Bank holds large assets, specifically Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Bahrain and Lebanon, which have seen a downgrade from Fitch in the past 12 months. Benefit from Geographical Diversification:...
